How to Live Intentionally

The quickest way to the life you want is to remove what holds you back

We can prune our lives much like we would prune a tree. This allows us to focus on what matters. Tatiana Chekryzhova/Shutterstock

I can guess two things about you:

1. You’re reading this article, so there’s a good chance that you’re at least an occasional reader of self-help advice.
2. You stopped on this particular headline about living more intentionally, which tells me that maybe you feel like you haven’t figured it all out yet.

That’s OK. Who has? The first thing I’d say about living an intentional life is that it’s a direction, not a destination. It’s a tool, not the measure of a life. Life is something to be received with gratitude, enjoyed, and lived with purpose—not a problem to be optimized.

Intentional living strips away distractions and allows you to focus on what’s truly meaningful and important in your life.

Why We Fail to Live Intentionally

In my experience, there are a couple of recurring obstacles when we make the decision to start living intentionally.